Macron starts trip to Australia focusing on defence

Tuesday, May 01, 2018 - 12:24 PM

French President Emmanuel Macron has arrived in Australia for a three-day visit to seek closer co-operation between the two countries on security issues.

Mr Macron’s trip will have a strong focus on defence, since Naval Group (former DCNS) – a French state majority-owned company, won a 2016 bid to build submarines for the Australian navy in a deal worth 50 billion Australian dollars (€31 billion).

The project binds the two countries in a partnership for more than 50 years through submarine construction and maintenance.

The submarines are to be built in Australia, with the first one due to be launched in 2027.

The president’s office said France considers Australia a key partner in ensuring maritime security in the Indian and Pacific Oceans and counter China’s expanding power.

France has several overseas territories and a total of 8,000 military based in the region.

Mr Macron, who is just back from a state visit to Washington, will be welcomed by Australia’s Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull and his wife with a dinner at Sydney Opera House.

Malcolm Turnbull and his wife Lucy at the military cemetery in northern France (Pascal Rossignol/AP)

Mr Turnbull was in France last week for World War I commemorations.

Later, Mr Macron will be welcomed by Mr Turnbull and his wife with a dinner at Sydney Opera House.

The two leaders are expected to sign agreements, hold a joint press conference and visit Garden Island military base on Wednesday.

Mr Macron’s visit will also focus on climate-related issues. The French leader, at the forefront of efforts to fight climate change, wants to boost efforts to respond to extreme climatic events in island states and protect coral reefs.

Mr Macron will then head to New Caledonia, a French territory east of Australia, in the South Pacific.